EU to decide whether Donbas insurgents are terrorists or not

Today, January 19, the European Union will consider the possibility of recognizing the militants of DPR and LPR as terrorists, said Jan Tombinski, the chairman of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

Today, January 19, the European Union will decide whether to recognize the insurgents of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic as terrorist organizations or not. The issue will be discussed by the Foreign Ministers of the EU, said Jan Tombinski, the chairman of the EU Delegation to Ukraine during a peace march in Kyiv.

The official also denied the existence of a split in the positions of Europe and the United States on the Ukrainian question.

"The European Union is not changing its approach to Russia. There are discussions, since the EU is a union of democratic states. But it is clear that the unity of the EU and the United States in this way is proven. And in the last year it has been demonstrated," Jan Tombinski said.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of State said it did not consider DPR and LPR as terrorists and wanted to cooperate with Russia. This statement was voiced by Marie Harf, a spokesperson for the Department of State. She stressed that the State Department has repeatedly called on both Russia and the militants to fulfill the Minsk agreements – to observe a truce, to free the hostages, in particular Nadiya Savchenko, and refrain from violence. However, the spokesperson for the Department of State refused to recognize the activities of the militants as terrorism.